surfing tickets

[laketime]

when we were in lake powell over the fourth of july we saw to seperate boats getting pulled over by rangers wile they were surfing. one of them was a malibu and i cant remember what the other one was but it was an inboard. i couldnt figure it out. i have never heard of somone getting a stoped by the fish cops for surfing.

[Surfdad]

One of the things that I have discoverd in these situations is that in almost ALL of the instances where someone is "pulled over for surfing" it's not actually the case. They may be surfing at the time they were pulled over, but the infraction is usually that some passenger is hanging off the gunnels, or there are 6 people on the swim deck or some OTHER violation of safety. Neither you or I were present, so we are both projecting, but of the 47 referrals I've received in '06 through the American Wakesurf Association, none were simply because someone was wakesurfing.

[dogbert]

Yes, but they probably tend to look more closely at those who are wakesurfing because some smart person figured out that wakesurfers are 10 times more likely to be operating in an unsafe manner than others (not that they are necessarily making a correct assumption).

I've had the water police watch me very closely every time I'm out. It's usually just them stopped looking at us and eventually taking off.

[CP3]

Round here they dont know what the hell were doing. Ive had two get really close to figure out how we were doing it and then just taking off.

[laketime]

yah i dont know that they were getting tickets or even being pulled over for surfing. its just that they were surfing at the time and it cought my eye.

ive never evan sufed before but as far as i knew i thuaght it was legal and just wondered why.

i defanatly want to try it soon.

[Surfdad]

Dogbert, is that watersports profiling? I don't doubt that we (collectively the wakesurfing community as we practice our sport) are scutinized more than the average boater but that isn't about wakesurfing itself, that's about folks who wakesurf not using good judgement - overweighting their boats or placing people in unsafe locations. That is what most law enforcement stops are for, not the act of wakesurfing. To me the "fix" is easy, boat safely and responsibly, especially when wakesurfing.

[dogbert]

No argument there. I think part of the reason they get close is to make sure you're not teak surfing. I know they will pull you over for that. Honestly, I can't blame them.

[Tequilasun]

I've gotten pulled over in the past for "wakesurfin" It was just because the H2O cop is a buddy and wanted to see how it worked.

And to get a warning about sitting on the Gunnels.



He did give my son a safe boater sticker and coupon for ice cream, for wearing his life jacket.


We like to train our police force down here.

[spenchey2]

Originally posted by CP3
Round here they dont know what the hell were doing. Ive had two get really close to figure out how we were doing it and then just taking off.

Same here, if they've seen you out alot (like us) they won't bother you unless you have a big problem. I'm yet to see someone try in on an I/O which will probally put an end to our surfing unless i can get the exception for an inboard.

[David]

We got 'pulled over' for surfing on Labor Day. Since there are no laws against surfing here in Texas, we had enough approved Life Jackets and all the right equipment, the sheriff tried to give the driver (Me) a ticket for 'reckless driving' ... They gave my Dad (who was surfing at the time) the option to take the citation under his name. After a bit of arguing (sp) and listening to the idiots try to explain to us what we already know, we left and just didn't surf the rest of the weekend.

That Monday, one call to the judge, ticket dropped. Maybe the judge was a wakesurfer himself ...

[Matt Garcia]

David what lake was that?

[dogbert]

Originally posted by David
We got 'pulled over' for surfing on Labor Day. Since there are no laws against surfing here in Texas, we had enough approved Life Jackets and all the right equipment, the sheriff tried to give the driver (Me) a ticket for 'reckless driving' ... They gave my Dad (who was surfing at the time) the option to take the citation under his name. After a bit of arguing (sp) and listening to the idiots try to explain to us what we already know, we left and just didn't surf the rest of the weekend.

That Monday, one call to the judge, ticket dropped. Maybe the judge was a wakesurfer himself ...

Probably had a lot to do with how much wakesurfing happens on the lake. On Lake Austin, you see it quite a bit, so there's never an issue. On Lake Buchanan, one of the water patrol guys is a neighbor, so I know all of them and they know my boat. I get an annual safety check and then they leave me alone.

[David]

Matt, we were out on Possum Kingdom. Staying off to the side of the lake too, away from alot of traffic, and out come the patrol.

[Tequilasun]

Originally posted by dogbert
On Lake Buchanan, one of the water patrol guys is a neighbor, so I know all of them and they know my boat. I get an annual safety check and then they leave me alone.

That's the way to go! Get it out of the way early.

[dogbert]

Originally posted by Tequilasun
That's the way to go! Get it out of the way early.

It's easier if you always go to the same place, are very courteous to them when they come over to talk to you and wave to them when you see them. They really don't like hassling people, but they do have a job to do. Remember, they are usually the ones that have to handle the accidents where people get hurt. With boats, it's usually ugly when it happens and chances of survival are far less than cars.

So, look at it from their point of view. You'll still occasionally run into one of them who just wants to be a pain in your rear. You can't win an argument with them regardless of what you tell them, so it's best to just let it be and wait until they leave.